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10 most common mistakes preventing recruitment growth

Are you looking to grow your recruitment business but it doesn’t seem to be expanding quite as quickly as you want it to? At Simplicity we work with many recruitment businesses across every sector and at every stage of the business growth spectrum. We’ve found that there are some common mistakes that recruiters make that can restrict their growth. It just might be that some or all of these are holding you back.

1. Speed to market

The agencies that have the insight, funding and relationships to ensure they are on top of new vacancies as they happen, but not only that, they are able to fill them quickly, will always have the competitive edge.

2. Access to the best candidates

Finding and securing the best candidates is a constant challenge, particularly in a climate where skills and candidate shortages are so well publicised. To do it well: leverage social media, create talent pools and build genuine relationships, takes skill but it also takes time. However recruiters often find themselves bogged down with administration and other business pressures and are unable to focus on candidate sourcing. Specialist outsourced admin solutions, such as the specialist recruitment solution from Simplicity, can give precious time back to recruiters.

3. Management information

If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it. Effective information about your business performance, for example aged debts and gross margins, is vital. It can help you manage cash flow, plan and even accelerate future investment and benchmark your performance against your competitors. Is your business performing to its full potential?

4. Time to grow

There is a vast amount of administration involved in running a recruitment business. From payroll, HMRC reporting, invoicing and payment chasing, it can take over. If you’re overwhelmed by admin, it probably means there aren’t enough hours in the day to focus on the future growth and development of your business. Many recruitment businesses never look back after engaging a back office support service to manage their non-core business functions. In return, they get back time to invest in core fee generating activities: looking after clients, finding quality candidates and developing new business.

5. Consultant training

There are numerous industries that demand years of devoted learning before you can enter them. However, there is no barrier to entry within recruitment. Whilst this makes it an attractive industry, and one which in theory requires little investment to get new consultants to ‘hit the ground running’, it is also a barrier to success. It is risky to throw a 20 year old at a phone with no proper training or qualifications within the sector, and expect them to bill £500k each year. Specialist coaching, training and mentoring companies offer specific and structured programs to ensure consultants are empowered to drive and achieve consistent results.

6. Cash to Invest

Investing in training, headcount and technology, as well as the cash flow to ensure you can always pay your workers, especially as your volumes increase, are the fuel for growth. Having the certainty and security to do these things with minimal risk will accelerate the quantity and quality of your business. A partner, such as Simplicity, providing tailored recruitment finance solutions that are flexible and professional with 100% finance, can make the difference between winning and losing.

7. Not All Business is Good Business

Not all clients represent a secure, high value business opportunity. It is very easy to get carried away with the prospect of a new business win and not ensure they are credit worthy. If a client fails to pay in a timely way, or even not at all, it will have a devastating impact on your business.

8. Lack of Admin Capacity

You, your accountant or perhaps a part-time payroll support if you have one can probably cope with running 5 or 10 payrolls a week. But if you suddenly get a large contract or multiple clients have a spike in demand at the same time, coping with 50, 100 or even more payrolls will soon become a huge stretch. Checking timesheets, producing payslips, dealing with payroll enquiries and ensuring accurate PAYE calculations will quadruple overnight. This volume of work can threaten your quality of service and risk of making mistakes. Incremental growth through a managed service partner, such as Simplicity that can take the additional administration pressures on for you will give you the infrastructure of a multi-national without the overheads.

9. Restrictive Credit Limits

Having finance can give you flexibility and confidence to grow your business. But, the wrong kind of finance can quickly turn sour. Many traditional, non-specialist solutions can quickly turn against you and actually stifle growth. Concentration limits that restrict the portion of your business that can sit with one client, inflexible credit limits that prevent you expanding supply with your client, and funding caps that restrict your total borrowing can all very quickly damage your business.

10. Brand perception

The image you project through your brand logo, your website and your marketing is key. If you look small and unpolished potential clients and candidates will lack confidence and are unlikely to take a leap of faith with your business. It takes as much time and investment to do it well as to do it badly. So it’s worth taking a bit of time to find a professional service that will give you the image that does justice to your professionalism and experience.

Recognising the barriers to your success is the first step. The next step is to contact Simplicity on 01594 888518 or email sales@simplicityinbusiness.com and find out how our game changing approach can help grow your recruitment business.